Joe's POV
I carried a box into the empty apartment. I couldn't help but overanalyze the safety of this place.
"That should go in the kitchen."
I turned around to see Y/N walking in with a box in her arms. I quickly put the box I was carrying down and ran over to her. I grabbed the box out of her hands and put it down.
"I can carry boxes," she teased me.
"Doesn't mean you should."
Y/N and I have been best friends since we were little. She moved in across the street and didn't have any friends. My mom was talking to her mom and they were worried about her. My mom asked me to befriend her. We instantly clicked and soon we were inseparable.
I moved to LA last year and it was the most depressing year of my life. Sure, I landed my role as Steve Harrington in Stranger Things. But it drove me crazy being away from Y/N. After weeks of begging and pleading and negotiating, I got Y/N to agree to move to LA.
Her new apartment is a ten-minute walk from mine. I plan on being over there all the time. Or having her at my place all the time. While I'm filming, Y/N is going to art school. She's an incredible artist. She won multiple awards and was the star of every art show in school. She also helped every theatre production with its backdrops. I have multiple Y/N Originals in my apartment.
My plan is to get Y/N a job working for Netflix. I may or may not have shown the Russo brothers some of her artwork. They loved it and were obsessed with the idea of Y/N working with us. They don't even care if she goes to art school or not. They want her to work with us starting next season. I just need to sneakily introduce her to the cast and get her invested before they officially offer her the job.
"Seriously, Joe," Y/N sighed as I carried in two boxes. "Please let me help you."
"Absolutely not," I said quickly. I put the boxes down, trying to hide how tired I was. But Y/N caught on. She grabbed her water and handed it to me.
"Thanks," I sighed.
"Please sit down," she begged. Before I could say anything, she grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the couch the movers put in a horrible place. She sat down, pulling me with her. She leaned her head on my shoulder as we relaxed.
"I'm really glad you decided to move here," I mumbled. "I've missed you like crazy."
"I've missed you too," she giggled.
"Want to come to set with me tomorrow? It could be fun," I offered.
"I'm in," Y/N shrugged.
"Great," I said, sounding a little happier than I should have. I cleared my throat, pretending like I was just coming up with this. "We could go to lunch. You could meet some of my costars. How about noon? We might be finishing the scene so you're probably gonna have to wait a little, if that's okay. I could take you on a quick tour of the set, head to my trailer, let me change real fast, and then I can take you to my favorite diner for lunch."
"Sounds great."
* * * * *
"Hawkins, Indiana is pretty cool," Y/N laughed after our tour. I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward my trailer.
"Who's this?"
We turned around to see Gaten walking toward us. He glanced down at our intertwined hands and smirked up at me.
"This is Y/N," I introduced, trying to ignore Gaten as he sent me his 'knowing' look. "She's my childhood best friend. She just moved here. Y/N, this is Gaten. He plays Dustin."
"It's nice to meet you," Y/N smiled.
"It's nice to meet you too," Gaten smirked. I really hoped she didn't catch on to the dumb look on his face.
"Well," I said, trying to get Y/N away from him, "we should get going."
Before either one of them said anything else, I pulled Y/N toward my trailer. Once we were safely inside, I let go of her hand and let out a sigh of relief.
"Everything okay?" Y/N laughed as she grabbed her purse off my couch.
"Yeah," I said, clearing my throat. "I was just. . . Gaten is a little uncontrollable. We always have to watch him."
"He's cute," she giggled as she walked over to me. I smiled when she looked up at me and stuck out her bottom lip.
"What's wrong, pouty?" I asked.
"I'm hungry."
I grabbed her hands and pulled her closer. "Then let's get you something to eat."
After lunch, we went back to set. We headed to my trailer and talked for a bit before I had to get back to work. I went the long way to the costume trailer so I could walk Y/N to her car.
"You're going to come over tonight, right?" She double-checked.
"Duh," I chuckled. "I'll pick up some food on my way over and I can help you finish unpacking."
"I'm already done," Y/N shrugged.
"What?!" I yelled making her giggle. "You did manual labor without your man?"
"My man has a full-time job," she laughed as she unlocked her car and opened her door. "He shouldn't be worried about me unpacking a couple of boxes when he's busy saving Hawkins."
"But his girl is so much more important to him than some kids in Hawkins," I said instantly. Y/N rolled her eyes as she laughed. She stood on her toes and kissed my cheek.
"I'll see you later," she said with a small chuckle. I stepped back as she got in the car. She started it and sent me a wave before pulling out of the parking lot. After making sure she was safely on her way home, I turned around and headed back to set.
* * * * *
"Where's Y/N?" Gaten asked as he walked over to me with his knowing smirk.
"She's probably at home, unpacking or getting things ready. Her semester starts soon," I said slowly, not sure why he was looking at me like this. "What's wrong with you?"
"The two of you are adorable," he smirked.
"Y/N and me?"
"I especially love how you become a different guy around her."
"I do not," I scoffed. "I'm the same guy. I don't change for Y/N. She's the only one who. . ."
I stopped talking when I saw Gaten smirking at me.
"You really don't see it?" Gaten laughed.
"See what?" I asked, losing my patience.
"How much Y/N affects you," he smirked. "You completely change when Y/N's around you."
"I do not," I scoffed.
"Yes, you do," he pushed. "I've worked with you for over a year, Joe. I know you. But the Joe Keery that I saw the other day when you showed Y/N around? I've never met him."
"I don't know what you're talking about," I stuttered.
"Come on," Gaten scoffed. "You were acting like a puppy following your owner who just got home from a long vacation, terrified she was going to leave again. You're whipped."
"I'm not whipped," I said quickly. "Y/N's my best friend. Of course I'm going to act a little differently around her. I don't want her thinking Hollywood has changed me."
"Bullshit," he laughed. "You're whipped. You're whipped. Joe is whipped. Joe is whipped for Y/N. Y/N and Joe, sitting in a tree. He's in love with her but won't admit it!"
I ran my fingers through my hair as he skipped away from me. My breath got caught in my throat when I saw Y/N walking toward me. She watched Gaten skip away with a confused look on her face.
"What's with him?" She asked when she got to me.
"He's a weird little guy," I stuttered. I cleared my throat before asking, "You ready for lunch?"
"Of course," she said, still studying me.
Y/N shrugged and grabbed my hand. I couldn't ignore the zoo in my stomach as we walked through set, hand-in-hand. My stomach turned sour when I saw Gaten watching us.
We walked down the street to one of the neighborhood ma-and-pop pizza places. On the way back, I took her the long way through the park. I pulled her out of the way as the sprinklers started. All of a sudden, I heard Y/N let out a devious giggle.
"What's wrong with. . ."
Before I could finish asking her what was wrong, Y/N pushed me into the sprinklers. I turned around to see her smiling at her with fake innocence.
"Are you okay, Joey?" She asked. "You must've tripped."
"How clumsy of me," I smirked. Y/N gasped, turning into a giggle when I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into my chest. I spun us around, the both of us getting completely soaked.
We started chasing each other through the sprinklers. We didn't care that people were watching us. Y/N always made me feel like this. I didn't care about anything anyone else had to say. As long as I made Y/N smile, that's all I cared about. She's all I cared about.
"Joe!" She shrieked. I wrapped my arms around her waist and picked her up. I walked over, out of the sprinklers, and set her down when we were out of the splash zone.
"We should go dry off," she giggled. "You still have three scenes to film."
My heart did a weird flip when she knew my schedule for the rest of the day. I grabbed her hand, unconsciously intertwining our fingers.
"We can go to my trailer," I said, pulling her with me. "I've got towels and you can steal one of my shirts."
"I love stealing your shirts!" Y/N said, jumping up and down excitedly.
"I love when you steal my shirts," I chuckled. "I should probably buy more if you're going to keep stealing them."
"One request?" She asked shyly.
"Anything, m'lady."
"Can you buy some that are a little bigger?" Y/N asked. "They're comfier to sleep in."
I'd do anything for you, I wanted to say.
"Sure thing," I said, instead.
We walked back to set without saying anything. I held her hand, checked before we crossed the street, and made sure she wasn't walking on the side closest to the street. When we got to set, we randomly started running and hiding around every corner.
"What are you two doing?!" Finn yelled at us.
"We're running," Y/N ran and giggled.
"Duh!" I agreed.
I grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her into my trailer. I slammed the door shut behind us and held her against my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her.
"I think we're safe," I whispered.
"I think so," she whispered back.
I looked down, my breath getting caught in my throat when I saw her looking up at me. We stood in each other's arms, looking deeply into each other's eyes. A few minutes passed by without either one of us saying anything or moving.
"Joe," she whispered, finally breaking the silence. "I'm freezing."
"Oh yeah," I whispered. I let go of Y/N and quickly grabbed her a towel. I turned around to hand it to her and couldn't help but stare at her. We were both still pretty wet but Y/N somehow looked gorgeous.
"Thanks," Y/N smiled. She went to grab it but stopped. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," I cleared my throat. She looked at me for a second before finally grabbing the towel. She started to dry her hair but she kept looking at me because I wouldn't stop looking at her.
"Joe," she pushed, "what's wrong with you?"
"I need to confess something," I rushed out.
"What?"
I closed the gap between us, stepping in front of her. I took the towel out of her hands and tossed it onto my trailer couch without looking away from her.
"Joe?"
"The year without you was the worst year of my life," I started. "I missed you every day. Nothing I did was worth it without you by my side. But when you agreed to move here with me, I was extremely relieved. I need you, Y/N. In every aspect of my life. Work. Friendship. Relationship."
"Relationship?" She repeated, her voice under her breath.
"I'm crazy about you, Y/N," I whispered. "I've been crazy about you since we were kids. When you're with me, all I can think about is making sure you're safe and happy and having fun. When you're not with me, all I can think about is wishing you were with me. I never want you anywhere but next to me. I know this sounds kind of obsessive but, I'll be honest. I am obsessed with you, Y/N. In fact, I'm in love with you."
"You're what?" She asked, barely audible.
"I am madly, obsessively, completely in love with you," I said a little louder. "And I need you to tell me how you feel about. . ."
Y/N grabbed my face with both hands and smashed her lips to mine. I instantly tightened my arms around her waist, pulling her closer as I kissed her back. Things sped up as we collapsed onto my couch. It took everything in me not to push her onto her back, crawl on top of her, and fulfill every dream I've had about her.
I forced myself to break the kiss, both of us out of breath. I leaned my forehead against hers, catching my breath.
"Joe," she said, still breathing heavily. "I can't believe that you're in love with me."
"Of course I am," I said quickly. "How can I not be? I've been in love with you since. . ."
"I'm in love with you too," she cut me off.
This time, I initiated the kiss. I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. I felt her smile against my lips as she kissed me back. Our lips moved in sync as I gently pushed her back so we were laying down. I wrapped my arms around her, keeping her pressed between me and the back of the couch.
We jumped apart when my phone started ringing. I groaned, forcing my anger down as I reached into my back pocket and answered the phone.
"What?"
"Hello to you too," Gaten chuckled. "Are you and Y/N back from lunch yet? We need you on set."
"Shit," I mumbled. "We just got back. I'll be right there."
I hung up and sat up, pulling Y/N with me. "I'm so sorry," I sighed. "I'd really like to continue. . . this but I have work to do."
Y/N stood on her toes and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. She broke the kiss and smiled at me.
"Come over tonight," she whispered. "We can pick up where we left off."
I pulled her into my chest and leaned down to kiss her. Our lips fit together perfectly, just like I dreamed they would. I broke the kiss with a small sigh.
"I'll pick up dinner on my way.